Ski safety binding

ABSTRACT

The ski safety binding comprises an inserted footplate, held on the upper surface of a ski between two end stops. At least one stop comprises a flexible retaining device. Boot clamping members, of which at least one is adjustable, are provided on the foot-plate so as to permit easy attachment of a boot of shorter length as a boot of longer length than that of the foot-plate. The upper surface of at least one of said stops is substantially flush with the upper surface of the foot-plate to enable one of the ends of a boot longer than the foot-plate to extend beyond it. The upper surface of the end of the foot-plate, which one of the ends of a longer boot can extend beyond, is extended by a small plate. The small plate may be formed in one part with the foot-plate, or fixed in removable manner to the foot-plate.

United States Patent [191 Salomon [451 Dec. 17, 1974 SK] SAFETY BINDING[22] Filed: May 31, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 365,639

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data June 9, 1972 Switzerland 8566/72[52] US. Cl. 280/1L35 K, 280/1135 T [51] Int. Cl. A63c 9/00 [58] FieldofSearch...2 80/1 1.35 E,11.35 K, 1 1.35 T, 280/11.35 L, 11.35 R, 11.35A

Primary Examiner-Evon C. Blunk Assistant Examiner.lames M. SlatteryAttorney, Agent, or FirmEmory L. Groff, Jr.

[57] ABSTRACT The ski safety binding comprises an inserted footplate,held on the upper surface of a ski between two end stops. At least onestop comprises a flexible retaining device. Boot clamping members, ofwhich at least one is adjustable, are provided on the foot-plate so asto permit easy attachment of a boot of shorter length as a boot oflonger length than that of the foot-plate. The upper surface of at leastone of said stops is substantially flush with the upper surface of thefoot-plate to enable one of the ends of a boot longer than the footplateto extend beyond it. The upper surface of the end of the foot-plate,which one of the ends of a longer boot can extend beyond, is extended bya small plate. The small plate may be formed in one part with thefoot-plate, or fixed in removable manner to the foot-plate.

5 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures SKI SAFETY BINDING The invention relates toa ski safety binding. In particular, it relates to a ski safety bindingcomprising an inserted foot-plate, held on the upper surface of the skibetween two end stops, of which one at least comprises an elasticretaining device, said foot-plate having a pair of footwear fixingmeans, at least one of which is adjustable, so as to permit theattachment thereto of a boot of shorter length and a boot of longerlength than that of the foot-plate with equal facility. The uppersurface of at least one of said stops is substantially flush with theupper surface of the foot-plate to enable one of the ends of a bootlonger than the plate to extend beyond it.

The advantage of such a safety binding resides essentially in the factthat, upon the fall of a skier or upon an impact involving the risk ofcausing a strain or a fracture, the foot-plate becomes detached from theski together with the boot which is attached to it.

The lower surface of the foot-plate can be made very smooth so that,upon the opening of the binding following the fall of a skier or animpact, it does not retard this opening by friction or adhesion to thesurface of the ski. The foot-plate can also be formed of a material towhich snow only adheres with difficulty and the refitting of the skiafter the opening of the binding is found to be greatly facilitatedthereby.

However, when the boot is of a size'greater than the foot-plate and itsheel extends beyond the rear edge of the foot-plate, for example, thegenerally striated sole which constitutes the lower part thereof,retains snow which tends to interfere with the re-fitting of the boot.On the other hand, such a sole of a striated heel generally has a highcoefficient of friction, with respect to the upper surface of the rearstop on which it rests, and retards the opening of the safety binding onthe fall of a skier or on an impact capable of having seriousconsequences.

In order to overcome these drawbacks, the binding according to theinvention is characterized in that the upper surface of the end of thefoot-plate, which one of the ends of a longer boot can overlap, isextended by a small plate.

The accompanying drawing shows, diagrammatically and by way of example,one embodiment of the binding according to the invention.

FIG. 1 is a view thereof in side elevation, partly cut out along theline [-1 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof from above.

The ski safety binding, shown in the drawing, comprises a foot-plate Iinserted on the ski 2, held by its ends 3, 4 on the upper surface of theski 2. The rear end 3 of the foot-plate 1 is bevel-edged from above tobelow in its middle portion, and forms a bevelled tongue 5.

This bevelled tongue 5 is engaged under an edge bevelled from top tobottom of a rear stop 6 fixed to the upper surface of the ski 2. Thelateral edges 7 of the tongue 5 are inclined towards one another fromfront to rear and are in contact having lateral guide rollers 8 with anaxis perpendicular to the upper surface of the ski 2.

The edge of the front end 4 of the footplate 1 has ramps 9 spreadingfrom a middle hollow area 10, into which the head 24 of a plunger piston11 extends. The piston 11 is subject to the action of a spring 12, theaxis of which is, parallel to the lateral edges of the ski 2, and formspart of a front stop 13 fixed to the upper surface of the latter. Anadjusting screw 14, rotatably mounted axially of the stop 13 at the endopposite the end which carries the plunger piston 11. The adjustingscrew serves to compress the spring 12 and to thus increase, in knownmanner, the force that it exerts on the plunger piston 11.

The foot-plate 1 has on the other hand, in the vicinity of its front end4, a deformable bow-shaped element 15 into which the front edge of thesole of a boot 16 can be engaged and, in the vicinity of its rear end, atightener 17 for clamping the upper edge of the heel 18 of the boot 16against the foot-plate 1 and the front end of the boot 16 against thebow-shaped element 15.

The foot-plate 1 has in its lateral edges, in the neighbourhood of itsrear end, holes 19 into which the curved ends of the arms 20 of astirrup forming part of the tightener 17 can be engaged. It is thuspossible to adjust the tightener 17 depending upon the length of theboot 16 to be fixed to the foot-plate 1..

The adjustment of the position of the tightener 17 as shown in FIG. 1,enables the attachment to the footplate 1 of a boot 16 whose heel 18overlaps the rear end of the foot-plate 1 and rests on the rear stop 6,whose upper surface is substantially at the level of the upper surfaceof the foot plate 1.

In order to prevent the bottom of a portion of the heel 18 of the boot16 from coming into direct contact with the upper surface of the rearstop 6, a small plate 21, for example of polished stainless steel, isfixed at the rear end 3 of the foot-plate 1, in the same plane as itsupper surface, by means of screws 22 engaged in slots 23 of the smallplate 21.

The slots 23 enable adjustment of the length of the portion of the smallplate 21 extending behind the footplate 1, depending upon the length ofthe part of the bottom of the heel 18 of the boot 16 which overlaps therear end 3 of the foot-plate 1. I

Given that the portion of the bottom of the heel 18 of the boot 16 whichis thus applied against the small plate 21 is not in contact with thesnow and cannot therefore retain any, it is easy to re-fix a bootrapidly on a ski whose binding is opened in a field of snow. It sufficesin fact to engage the rear bevelled tongue 5, of the plate 1 under thebevelled edge of the rear stop 6, then to exert pressure against thehead 24 of the plunger piston 11, in order to re-engage in the hollow 10the front portion 4 of the plate 1.

In a modification, there can be provided a mechanism with a lever on thefront stop 13, enabling the head 24 of the plunger piston 11 to re-enterthe body of this stop 13 by compressing the spring 12, before thereplacement of the foot-plate 1 on the ski. It then suffices to allowthe head 24 of the plunger piston 11 of the body of the stop 13 tore-emerge in order that it may engage in the hollow 10 of the frontportion 4 of the foot-plate 1.

The portion of the sole of the heel 18 of the boot 16, overlapping atthe rear of the foot-plate l and against which the small plate 21 isapplied, cannot brake, on contact with the stop 6, the movements of thefootplate 1 forward or the lateral movements of the front end 4 of theplate 1, on the opening of the binding, which enables finer adjustmentof the latter and confers on it an increased safety of opening.

The small plate 21 can be formed of any material having at the same timea low coefficient of friction with the rear stop 6 and constituting apoor surface for the adhesion of snow. Small plates of synthetic resinor of metal coated with synthetic resin of low coefficient of friction;such as a fluorocarbon resin for example, are extremely well suited.

Instead of a small plate 21 whose overlap at the rear of the foot-plate1 is adjustable, there may be fixed to the rear of the latter a smallplate selected from a set of small plates of variable size. Finally, thesmall plate 21 can also be formed in one piece with the foot-plate 1.

In bindings with an inserted foot-plate, devised so as to enable thefront portion of the sole of the boot to overlap the front end of thefoot-plate 1, there may be provided small plates 21 at the front end ofthe footplate 1.

The small plate 21 does not necessarily have to cover the whole surfaceof the sole overlapping the foot-plate 1. It suffices that its widthcorresponds to that of the portion of the rear or front stop that itmust protect from direct contact with the sole of the boot. Its widthcan thus be variable with its length.

Small plate 21 may without inconvenience be of greater length than thatof the portion of the sole of the boot'which overlaps the foot-plate 1,this arrangement enabling the use of a same foot-plate for a largenumber of boot sizes, which leads to economies of manufacture. In thiscase, it is advantageous for the small plate to be an elasticallydeformable strip. In fact, if it were rigid, it could be broken in usewith a boot which is too short.

In the case where it would not be possible to find a same materialcorresponding to all the conditions required for a small plate of largesize, such a small plate could be formed by assembling several stripsside by side.

The inserted foot-plate provided with a small plate such as has beendescribed constitutes an assembly comprising two functionally differentparts. One of these parts, the foot-plate l, carries the fastenings ofthe boot and the members cooperating with the stops mounted on the ski.The other part, the small plate 21, comprises an extension of the firstpart.

I claim:

1. A ski safety binding for ski boots comprising, a foot-plate formounting on the upper surface of a ski, spaced front and rear end stopsfixed to said ski upper surface and between which said binding ismounted, at least one of said stops including a flexible retainingdevice, said foot-plate including clamping members for a boot, at leastone of said clamping members being adjustable so as to enable theattachment to said ski of a boot of shorter or longer length than thelength of said foot-plate, the upper surface of said rear stop disposedsubstantially flush with the upper surface of said footplate to enableone of the ends of a boot longer than the foot-plate to extend beyondit, and a planar extension plate mounted on the rear of said foot-plateand extending the upper surface of the rear end of said footplate beyondthe rear of said foot-plate and in an overlying manner relative to saidrear stop, said extension plate engaging the upper surface of said rearstop and supporting at least a portion of the bottom surface of a heelof a boot to provide a continuous boot support ing member having asubstantially planar supporting surface from the toe to the heel of theboot, said extension plate having a low coefficient of friction relativeto said rear stop to facilitate separation as an integral unit of saidfoot-plate extension plate and boot from said ski upon impact of anunusual force.

2. A ski binding according to claim 1, wherein said extension plate isformed in one part with the footplate.

3. A ski binding according to claim 1, wherein said extension plate isfixed in removable manner to the foot-plate.

4. A ski binding according to claim 1, wherein said extension plate isconnected to the foot-plate in a manner adjustable in the direction ofthe length of the footplate.

5. A ski binding according to claim 1, wherein said extension plate isan elastically deformable strip.

1. A ski safety binding for ski boots comprising, a foot-plate formounting on the upper surface of a ski, spaced front and rear end stopsfixed to said ski upper surface and between which said binding ismounted, at least one of said stops including a flexible retainingdevice, said foot-plate including clamping members for a boot, at leastone of said clamping members being adjustable so as to enable theattachment to said ski of a boot of shorter or longer length than thelength of said foot-plate, the upper surface of said rear stop disposedsubstantially flush with the upper surface of said foot-plate to enableone of the ends of a boot longer than the foot-plate to extend beyondit, and a planar extension plate mounted on the rear of said footplateand extending the upper surface of the rear end of said foot-platebeyond the rear of said foot-plate and in an overlying manner relativeto said rear stop, said extension plate engaging the upper surface ofsaid rear stop and supporting at least a portion of the bottom surfaceof a heel of a boot to provide a continuous boot supporting memberhaving a substantially planar supporting surface from the toe to theheel of the boot, said extension plate having a low coefficient offriction relative to said rear stop to facilitate separation as anintegral unit of said foot-plate extension plate and boot from said skiupon impact of an unusual force.
 2. A ski binding according to claim 1,wherein said extension plate is formed in one part with the foot-plate.3. A ski binding according to claim 1, wherein said extension plate isfixed in remoVable manner to the foot-plate.
 4. A ski binding accordingto claim 1, wherein said extension plate is connected to the foot-platein a manner adjustable in the direction of the length of the foot-plate.5. A ski binding according to claim 1, wherein said extension plate isan elastically deformable strip.